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Once upon a time it was widely regarded as just another "new-fangled thing" only of interest to computer nerds. (And back then, before a lot of those "nerds" went on to become Silicon Valley squillionaires, the term "nerd" was a bit of a put-down).

This 1995 story from ABC's Hot Chips was produced as an "explainer", tackling such questions as: Why the Internet is the "Next Big Thing"? How does it work? Who pays for it? — and most importantly, what do you need to do in order to get connected?

The story holds up surprisingly well, almost 20 years later, partly because we talked to Geoff Huston, the man later to be inducted into The Internet Hall of Fame for his critical role in bringing the Internet to Australia.

In 1995 consumers had to be fairly determined in order to get online. It wasn't at all easy and it wasn't cheap.

Still, once people discovered the power and speed of online communication, there was no turning back... As reporter Graham Phillps cautiously suggests in the story, "We could be looking at a revolution whose impact is as great as the introduction of the telephone"

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